I have a hard time separating art and stories. The kind of projects I like to create tell stories, whether those are visual, audio or some combination. Below are summaries of things I’ve worked on in the last few years.
Be Here Now
In 2019 I wanted to capture the experience of being on a long voyage, without narrating a boring slide show. I came up with a one man show, full of stories, art, and a few short video clips.
The first set of shows was derailed by covid.
The show was revived in 2022, including a performance at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.
Present Tense
The art from Be Here Now was expanded and turned into a covid-safe window display at the Lincoln Street Canoe & Kayak Museum in spring of 2021.
It included text panels, watercolor collage, and dioramas.
Story Migration
A few years ago I ended up with a rather large piece of Douglas fir. The wood spoke to me and declared that it was a whale. Whale prints were made.
Then the wood spoke again and said it wanted to travel. A whale was carved and a vessel to transport it was constructed.
The Story Migration Project was born as a result of the traveling sculpture that emerged. Here’s the back story:
The whale started its migration in April 2016. It made it to Olympia, the Methow Valley, Seattle, and was lost in the San Juan Islands. Someone recently asked if I was sad that I hadn’t gotten much feedback or even a postcard from the whale. My reply was a simple no.
For me, the act of making stuff is someplace between a maniacal compulsion and an act of faith. Over the years I’ve created neon sculptures, pottery, screen printed shirts, wood cuts, and watercolors. Most of them have been given away. I like to see the joy that people get in receiving something in the modern age that isn’t mass produced and delivered by a mega-corporation. I have faith that these things are appreciated or at least noticed before they end up in the burn pile- and at the very least, they haven’t done much harm in their creation.
Not Searching for Bears
To celebrate the opening of the window gallery at Lord’s Luggage/Cheneral Store, I made a series of postcards capturing the spirit of journeying into the woods and avoiding bears.
Terrapin Tales 